Jack Black Swears His New ANACONDA Movie Won’t Skip the Scares
So far, the marketing for Sony’s upcoming Anaconda reboot has leaned hard into the laughs, and it’s made me think that this movie is going to be more of a spoof comedy.
With Paul Rudd and Jack Black leading the charge, and a premise involving mid-life crises and a jungle movie shoot gone wrong, the early vibe spoof "adventure comedy." But according to Black, fans shouldn’t worry because the horror’s still very much alive.
“It’s a lot funnier than the original,” Black told Entertainment Weekly, “but it does have a lot of the original vibes in terms of the scary parts. It’s a horror film for real, but it’s also got some clownin’ for sure.”
While the “clownin’” has been front and center so far, Black’s assurance is a welcome jolt of hope for horror fans who are hoping for some terrifying over-the-top kills with real suspense.
In this new Anaconda, a group of friends, who are each navigating mid-life identity crises, set out to remake their favorite childhood movie. They head into the rainforest to shoot their DIY passion project, only to end up in a deadly struggle involving giant snakes, unrelenting natural disasters, and even more dangerous human threats.
Black plays a burned-out wedding videographer turned wannabe auteur, while Rudd is an actor on the verge of giving up on Hollywood altogether. The cast also includes Thandiwe Newton (Westworld), Steve Zahn (Silo, Joy Ride), Selton Mello, Ione Skye (Say Anything), and Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad).
Tom Gormican (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) directs the film from a script he co-wrote with Kevin Etten. Judging by their previous work, this duo knows how to blend genre deconstruction with actual stakes, so if they can balance the tone right, Anaconda could strike a perfect mix of funny and frightening.
The original Anaconda starred Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, and Owen Wilson, and it followed a documentary crew who get entangled with a snake-obsessed maniac deep in the Amazon. That movie slithered its way into cult status and spawned multiple sequels—and even a crossover with Lake Placid in 2015.
Anaconda hits theaters December 25, 2025. I’m curious to see how this new film turns out, and I just hope that it ends up being a great horror comedy.